Starbucks partners with Match.com

Published February 13, 2015 at 9:32 am

Designing marketing pieces that reflect some major current event or holiday can add relevance to the brand message, and for Valentine’s Day that means looking for ways to add love or intimacy to the previously established brand message. For some businesses, this could require creative thinking, but for dating sites it’s a natural time to shine and attract business in interesting ways.

ABC News reports that Match.com is partnering with Starbucks to promote Valentine’s Day-themed dates at some of the coffee chain’s locations. Now, users of the dating service will have access to a special button that allows them to “invite someone to Starbucks” to meet up.

The collaboration is based as much on Match CEO Sam Yagan’s personal love of Starbucks as on user preferences, since nearly a third of Match’s members reportedly have an interest “coffee and conversation.”

As part of this promotion, the coffee chain will also host a February 13 event dubbed “the World’s Largest Starbucks Date.” AdAge features comments from Starbucks global CMO Sharon Rothstein about why this partnership makes sense for the brand.

“We’re a place where people come together to share important life moments — big and small,” she said. “We’ve been witness to first dates, marriage proposals, job interviews, friends and families reunited, communities gathering, and so much more in our stores around the world.”

A key aspect of this campaign is the natural fit between the two brands and the ease at which it caters to a customer base already online. Local marketing strategies can take some of the same principles and use them to reach customers in a specific area. Done well, these are opportunities to bring a higher level of attention to a brand’s best qualities, based on current topics of conversation.